© 2026 WSSB
Donate
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

The State House Gavel: House shifts gear to start roads debate with 3 weeks left

South Carolina Public Radio | By Maayan Schechter,
Gavin Jackson
Published April 28, 2026 at 6:01 AM EDT
Outside of the South Carolina Statehouse on March 31, 2026.
GAVIN JACKSON
Outside of the South Carolina Statehouse on March 31, 2026.

It's Tuesday, April 28.

Welcome to Week 16 of the South Carolina legislative session.

Counting this week, there are three weeks and nine days left for lawmakers to get nearly all of their work done until the clock strikes 5 o'clock Thursday, May 14, also known as sine die adjournment.

That of course doesn't include any additional days lawmakers might take beyond sine die to deal with the budget, conference committees and the governor's vetoes — that is if they manage to pass still-pending sine die resolution.

You're reading The State House Gavel, your daily reporter notebook by Maayan Schechter and Gavin Jackson that previews and captures what goes on at the South Carolina Statehouse.

South Carolina's public health department has officially declared the state's measles outbreak, centered in Spartanburg County, over.

Nearly 1,000 cases were reported since October, the largest outbreak in the United States in more than three decades.

"I wish to humbly and profoundly thank the many South Carolinians whose hard work prevented this outbreak from becoming far larger and more serious than it could have become. I am very thankful for their efforts and support during this challenging time," interim DPH Director Dr. Ed Simmer said in a statement.

He added, "While 997 is a large number, without the front-line help from a diverse and dedicated group of people from all backgrounds and walks of life, I believe many more cases — and potentially more hospitalizations or even deaths — would have occurred."

TWISC: In case you missed it, "This Week in South Carolina" host Gavin Jackson sat down with Republican candidates for governor Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and 5th District Congressman Ralph Norman about their bids in the first installment of Jackson's conversation with candidates series. You can find the full interviews below.

Notebook highlights:

  • House prepares to take up omnibus roads bill this week. What is expected to be cut out of the bill, and other hearing highlights
  • Senate GOP leader says final three weeks will be "chaos" as usual as upper chamber moves toward sine die

House changes lanes as it readies to pass roads bill

House Majority Leader Davey Hiott, R-Pickens, told us last Thursday the House will spend this Wednesday on the Senate-approved Department of Transportation modernization bill — S. 831 — which a House committee amended with the language of its proposal, H. 5071.

Hiott said most concerns around the bill, what he called misinformation, has been over the creation of a fund to incentivize local government to take ownership of some local roads.

Under the bill, the state transportation department would be responsible with publishing a list of "nonessential roads" that could be transferred, only with consent, to local governments.

The list, the bill says, would have to be approved by the created Coordinating Council for Transportation and Mobility, responsible for "developing coordinated transportation plans and policy for the state."

The legislation also creates the "system realignment fund," which could be funded with general fund dollars from the General Assembly or transfers of DOT money by the transportation secretary.

Separately, the House added $25 million in one-time dollars in their version of the budget passed in March to go toward the state's road buyback program. The Senate included $12.5 million.

To help accelerate funds to existing, locally-owned road fixes, the House spent $100 million toward county transportation committees, while the Senate set aside $200 million.

"I think at the end of the day, we'll end up pulling it out (incentivizing state to local turnover) just to make sure that it doesn't cause too much confusion," Hiott said. "The Senate doesn't seem to think it's a big issue."

What the bill says:

In addition to that measure, the bill as it's written now also would:

  • Move the DOT secretary to the governor's Cabinet
  • Give state DOT the ability to create express lanes
  • Raise electric car registration fees
  • Increase oversight of county transportation committees, and seek to realign more authority within the agency under the secretary and undersecretaries from the commission
  • Allow for public-private partnerships
  • Give the state more power over permitting environmental impacts
  • Create a $15 million annual allocation for the "Pothole Mitigation Program" that would allow anyone to report potholes via a free app. Potholes would be required be fixed within seven days

What else is on the House's agenda this week?

With three weeks left, the contested bills (legislation lawmakers have determined will get debate) are piling up on the chamber's calendar, from whether to sell ivermectin over the counter, to bills dealing with educator safety and student discipline.

You can find Tuesday's calendar here.

Here are hearing highlights for the week:

Tuesday

  • A House judiciary subcommittee will meet in the morning on two bills that include S. 508, sponsored by Laurens Republican Sen. Danny Verdin, that aims to expand the Heritage Act, a 2000 law which protects monuments, statues, street and building names in South Carolina from being removed or changed. The bill has already been passed by the Senate and will go before a House Judiciary Committee hearing in the afternoon if it's advanced out of subcommittee. The full committee will also take up S. 52, DUI legislation sponsored by Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort.
  • Two separate House Education and Public Works subcommittees will meet Tuesday morning before the House gavels in. The first will discuss three bills, including two Senate bills — S. 812, sponsored by Sen. Luke Rankin, R-Horry, and S. 711, sponsored by Sen. Mike Johnson, R-York — that deal with when cyclists can go through red lights and school guard requirements, respectively. The second public hearing will decide whether to advance two Senate bills — S. 1038, sponsored by Sen. Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, and S. 832, sponsored by Sen. Ed Sutton, D-Charleston — that would declare the first day of March as "Religious Liberty Day" and legislation that prohibits a local government can restrict or require approval for an on-campus event based on local zoning regulations or land use rules.
  • A House Ways and Means subcommittee will meet at 11 a.m. to discuss and likely advance S. 769, a continuing resolution to operate state government, sponsored by Sen. Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee, should a budget not be ready to start July 1.

Wednesday

  • With an expected long debate day over roads legislation on the floor, the full Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee will meet first thing at 9 a.m. on five bills that cover bridge loans, mortgage rates and insurance.
  • The House Judiciary's criminal law subcommittee is scheduled to meet in the morning on three bills that include Spartanburg Republican Sen. Josh Kimbrell's S. 235, which tweaks the penalties for prostitution offenses and considers offenses felonies. Minors or those who were coerced into prostitution, such as victims of human trafficking may not be prosecuted, the bill states.

Thursday

  • A real estate subcommittee of the House Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee will meet in the morning to only take testimony on two bills, both proposed by Rep. Robert Williams, D-Darlington. One bill — H. 3543 — would require restrooms at any business that sells "tangible personal property" to be available for use by customers or prospective buyers at their request.
  • An Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs subcommittee will meet after the House adjourns in the afternoon to discuss H. 4624, sponsored by Rep. Lee Gilreath, R-Anderson. The legislation, a so-called chemtrail ban bill, would prohibit the intentional emission of any air contaminant with the purpose of affecting the temperature, weather and sunlight intensity.
The S.C. House of Representatives chamber on March 10, 2026, in Columbia, S.C.
MAAYAN SCHECHTER
/
SCETV
The S.C. House of Representatives chamber on March 10, 2026, in Columbia, S.C.

Senate stares down packed agenda

Now that the upper chamber has wrapped debate over its version of the $15 billion state spending plan, senators are staring down a more than 40-page calendar.

Senate GOP Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, told reporters Thursday he expects the chamber to spend a considerable amount of time working through the calendar, divvying up what bills will take the contested, debate slot.

That could include debate over S. 933, sponsored by Sen. Shane Martin, R-Spartanburg, a bipartisan-backed bill that would aim to raise lawmakers' pay to $47,500. (The Senate version of the budget also includes a measure to raise in-district pay, again, to $2,500.)

Massey and House Speaker Murrell Smith, R-Sumter, met Thursday behind closed doors to plot out the next nine official days of the legislative session. The majority leader stayed mum on what specifically was discussed.

But asked for one word to describe the expectation? "Chaos, as it always is," Massey said.

Hearing highlights for the week:

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

  • Senate Legislative Oversight hearings will continue Thursday, starting with the state Department on Aging, then will wrap with the South Carolina Arts Commission and SCETV and SC Public Radio.
Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, speaks with Sen. JD Chaplin, R-Darlington, and Sen. Everett Stubbs, R-York, in the Senate chamber at the Statehouse on April 14, 2026.
GAVIN JACKSON
Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, speaks with Sen. JD Chaplin, R-Darlington, and Sen. Everett Stubbs, R-York, in the Senate chamber at the Statehouse on April 14, 2026.

Statehouse daily planner (4/28)

SC House

SC Senate

SC governor

  • Gov. Henry McMaster and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette to attend White House's arrival ceremony welcoming King Charles III and Queen Camilla

Editor's Note: Statehouse schedules can change daily. To keep up with the House and Senate meeting schedules, click here.

Statehouse clips from around the state
News From South Carolina
Maayan Schechter
Maayan Schechter (My-yahn Schek-ter) is a news reporter with South Carolina Public Radio and ETV. She worked at South Carolina newspapers for a decade, previously working as a reporter and then editor of The State’s S.C. State House and politics team, and as a reporter at the Aiken Standard and the Greenville News. She grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and graduated from the University of North Carolina-Asheville in 2013.
See stories by Maayan Schechter
Gavin Jackson
Gavin Jackson graduated with a visual journalism degree from Kent State University in 2008 and has been in the news industry ever since. He has worked at newspapers in Ohio, Louisiana and most recently in South Carolina at the Florence Morning News and Charleston Post and Courier.
See stories by Gavin Jackson